Billy Bob Thornton finally reveals real reason three-year marriage to Angelina Jolie ended

Billy Bob Thornton has opened up on why his marriage with Angelina Jolie came to an end - as well as why the couple kept 'vials' of each other's blood.

Thornton, 70, has known his fair share of marriages, having now tied the knot six times. In 2000, he married a then 25-year-old Jolie, who he'd met on the set of Pushing Tin in 1999, and the pair had a very public romance, which saw them constantly pursued by paparazzi.

Their whirlwind relationship also saw them don 'vials of each other's blood' around their necks, which Thornton later elaborated on.

The two adopted a son, Maddox, from Cambodia in 2002 before calling it quits a year later.

In a new interview with Rolling Stone, the Bad Santa star reflected on their marriage, saying that he and Jolie 'had a great time together'.

Thornton and Jolie married in 2000 after a whirlwind romance (SGranitz/WireImage)

"That was one of the greatest times of my life," he told the publication.

The 70-year-old Landman star said it was the one divorce 'that ended up being a really civilized breakup', and that 'she and I are still very, very close friends'.

As for why it didn't work out between the two? Well, Indecent Proposal star said that the reason for their divorce was simply because 'our lifestyles were so different'.

The peacefulness of their divorce did not reflect much of the media frenzy around their sudden marriage.

At this time, Thornton was at the pinnacle of his career, following his Academy Award win for his 1996 independent film Sling Blade, which he wrote, directed, and acted in.

"It was pretty weird. When we met, I was the more famous one," he told Rolling Stone. But then, their fame transformed their relationship into a celebrity power coupling.

The couple were often pursued by paparazzi (Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)

"So, it was weird." he continued. "We couldn’t go anywhere. I mean, we did, and then of course we had times when we would say things that became sound bites or whatever."

The singer-songwriter has previously alluded to how he 'blew it' with Jolie, telling ABC: “I didn’t think I was good enough for her. She has one way she wanted to live her life and I had another way to live mine and I was just too insecure.”

He'd also expressed a similar sentiment regarding the reason for their split, telling the HFPA in Conversation podcast in 2018 that they broke up as a result of their 'different lifestyles'.

"Hers is a global lifestyle and mine is an agoraphobic lifestyle,” Thornton said. “So, that's really—that's the only reason we're probably not still together, maybe, because of a different path in life we wanted to take."